Basil Smith: Savoia-Marchetti S.55

Artist: Basil Smith
1925 -
Nationality: British
Artwork Year: 1982
Image Size: 7 by 6 inches
Overall Size: 10 by 9 inches
Medium: Mixed Media on Hot Press Illustration Board

The Atlantic was conquered by the airplane in 1919, yet with the coming of the 1930s much remained to be accomplished, especially in the way of trail-blazing the great air routes of the future, proving navigational techniques and, quite unashamedly, exploiting the courage and endurance of pilots in the name of record-breaking and publicity. Governments played a large part in probing and shrinking the globe by sending long-range aircraft on spectacular missions, the most impressive of which were the massive formation flights headed by Italian Air Minister Italo Balbo. General Balbo's first flight was from Rome to Rio in 1931, and was composed of four squadrons of three planes each. His choice of airplane design was the remarkable Savoia-Marchetti S.55, a twin-hulled flying boat with an open cockpit, very thick wings, and twin engines installed back-to-back. The S.55 was an airship world renowned for excellence, having previously set numerous world records for speed, altitude, and distance. With the great success of his first flight, Balbo planned another and more massive flight. In 1933, twenty-four Savoia-Marchetti S.55Xs left Italy on July 1 and were given a hero's welcome in Chicago on the 15th of July ... 6,065 miles at an average speed of 115 miles per hour. Through Balbo's amazing exploits, the world received a remarkable demonstration of the growing reliability and possibilities of aviation.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® Trains & Boats & Planes & More Collection Description Card for the Savoia-Marchetti S.55.

Artwork Copyright © 1982 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB06314

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